Someone sent me this...
Americans are in the midst of a cheese revolution, with dozens of American cheese makers reviving the craft on an artisanal level. In serious restaurants across the nation, American cheese has arrived. Rarely available 10 years ago, American cheese now appears on the best tables.

Artisanal cheeses are handmade, not bulk manufactured. They are made by the cheese maker from start to finish with little or no mechanization, without an assembly line. They can be both large and small, as some larger companies still make all their cheese by hand.

Artisanal cheese makers buy milk from neighboring farms, preserving the regional characteristics of the milk and ensuring the freshness of the milk. Seasonal changes in the milk, such as fat content, protein, and flavors from the feed, are often apparent and part of the appeal.

Farmstead or farmhouse cheeses are also artisanal cheeses. They are made from the milk produced by a single herd on the individual’s farm. As small dairy farmers look for ways to become less dependent on subsidized commodity milk prices, they can “add value” to their milk through making cheese to build revenue, keeping their businesses afloat.

Offering your guests artisanal American cheeses is a creative way to present the newest food trend. In Europe, the cheese course follows the meal and precedes dessert.

Here are tips for serving a cheese course at home:
Limit selection to three or four cheeses. More than 4 cheese fatigue the palate.
Three good-size pieces are more appealing than 5 or 6 small pieces.
Take cheeses out of the refrigerator one to two hours before serving, unwrap them, and let them come to room temperature.
Serve cheese from the mildest to the strongest.
Aim for variety in texture, taste and appearance.
Contrast creamy with firm.
Please the eye with different colors and shapes.
Skip crackers in favor of bread, preferably a sliced baguette.
Keep accompaniments simple, such as fresh or dried figs, nuts, date and walnut bread, and membrillo (quince paste).
Themes can include cheeses from a variety of milk sources – cow, goat, and sheep or various textures and styles (soft ripened, semi-hard, blue). But it is also enlightening to compare similar cheeses from different countries (English and American cheddars or cheeses of different ages (fresh goat cheese with aged goat cheese).

Robt760-If I might comment on your list
The problem with the supermarkets is the lack of training/knowladge amongst the staff.I find I am shopping much less at Bristol Farms(in fact I cannot remember the last time I was there!)because of this.

I also find the quantity/variety Whole Foods finds it necessery to put out to make a statement questionable-they prepack way too much cheese than they will sell in a day.

I do love Nicole's and shop there often.But unless you get Nicole or her son good luck with any help.They do have some great prices.

Beverly Hills cheese store is a treasure.They are true "affinuers"and have a n aging celler on property.But they are located in a very expensive nieghborhood and pass that expense on to the consumer.I do visit there often however as price is often not an problem for me when it comes to food.

However-my numberone Cheese Monger these days its The Cheese Store of Silver Lake.Great selection,low prices,and Chris-the owner,is passionate about his product.

BTW-thank you for your other information-it is very helpful

PPS Might I suggest Steve Jenkin's book The Cheese Primer.

Finest Cheese store in North America?
 

One of my must do's in Montreal is a stop at the Hormel cheese shop.
It is IMO the finest cheese store in North America.

The Comte-only shop has shut down, what a surprise. ;)

Anne had a very nice write-up in an article in today's Times on the Essex Market--great cheese, and she's "winsome", too!
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/06/dining/06esse.html

Formaggio Essex, an offshoot of Formaggio Kitchen in Boston, has also opened in the market since my last post, so it's becoming a little cheese mecca.

Where is the Hormel shop in YUL? My favourite there is Qui Lait Cru?! at Jean-Talon market. Two notables: Allegretto, a raw sheepsmilk cheese, and Camembert Sainte-Martin, a cow that tastes like porcini mushrooms.

Had a lovely cheese the other day that had a white truffle scent to it. Yum.

We have tried many varieties of mozzarella di bufala, due to the fact that my fiance can't eat any cow milk products but has no trouble with buffalo mozzarella. After ten years without pizza, he is now able to indulge, thanks to our discovery that buffaloes are compatible with his tummy.

Our favorite is Bubalis Bubalus. It is made domestically. It comes in a celophane package, wrapped up like a giant candy. Be sure to check the date on any buffalo mozzarella, as it goes bad quicker, and, depending on the store and the market, it may not turn over as quickly as it should on the shelves.

We usually find it for $7.

There's another kind fron Italy that's also good that comes in a round plastic container and has a yellow label... looking in pantry for container, which now contains sea salt ... found it .. the brand is Pomella.

Another kind we get sometimes is cheaper. It's also fron Italy. Seems more mass produced and seems to keep better. It comes in a plastic bag with a red label. The bag is the same material that frozen veggies come in. It doesn't have as much flavor, has a more rubbery texture, and the rounds are smaller. It's still good... just not up to the others we've tried. It is cheaper, though, so if you're needing a bunch for something basic, it can be a good choice.

There's one other kind we've tried, also a top choice, that comes in a container, and inside the container is the brine and a paper fabric type pouch with holes in it to let the brine in. The mozzarella is in this pouch. My guess is it is shipped in bulk, a bunch of pouches all in one big tub of brine, and the cheesemongers break it up, putting each in a container with a bit of the brine. It's good also but the most expensive we've gotten.

In the end, Bubalis Bubalus really has a nice flavor to us. earthy and rich. good fat. delicate rind. You do have to watch it, though. If it sits too long it gets mushy. Doesn't keep as well as some of the others. Do check the dates on the packages (for Bubalis the date sticker is inside the gathered celophane) and use the cheese within 2-3 days. If using raw, really use right away. If melting for pizza or lasagna, you can get away with it being mushy (trust me, we've used some we forgot about for waaay too long, and it's fine). ;)

Here in Austin we're blessed with two of the best groceries in the country and probably beyond: Central Market and the Whole Foods corporate headquarters flagship store. The competition between these two has really brought some great products to town. We've become a laboratory for innovation in the grocery/specialty foods business in a sense, which is quite fortunate for us. We do our best to be good guinea pigs! :D

Fromagerie Hamel. There are several locations in Montreal. For Americans, you'll think you've died and gone to heaven when you see the prices, since Canada doesn't have the 100% tarrifs on European cheeses we have in the US. Everything is half off! I once smuggled back $75 worth of cheese, worth $150 in the US, if you could even get it at all with the silly FDA rules. Some were quite stinky that had to be vacuum packed for the plane trip. I felt like Arlo Guthrie...

"Don't check my bags, if you please, Mr. Customs man..."

:D

IIRC, English was a bit limited at the one I went to, which was at the Jean Talon market.

Fun place. Amazing selection. They know their cheese.

Is that why?! ARGH!

Just to add... I once "liberated" a 1/4 of a wheel of Gruyere from Geneva in my backpack. The original wheel was 3' wide. I left behind 1/2 my clothes :)

Wow, how did I miss this thread? French Picodon, Fourme d'Ambert, Epoisses, Italian Mountain Gorgonzola, Parmegiano Stravecchcio...I have to stop, this is making me too hungry!

A more unusual favorite is Västerbottensost from Northern Sweden, similar to a rich, winey, crumbly cheddar. I've only had the industrial version (vacuum packaged so easy to carry through customs) and can only dream of how good the artisanal versions must be. The good news is that IKEA sometimes carries it.

In the Jean Talon Market.Permenant store facing Jean Talon

I love cheese.

One of the best things about Delta these days is the cheese option in their Buy on Board menu. Generous servings of three cheeses (in the past has been brie, gouda and cheddar, but they've just changed the assortment) with crackers, some grapes, pecans and dried apricots. At $6, it's a deal.

That's actually what inspired me to bump this topic.
I had the fruit & cheese plate last weekend. The gouda was still in the plate, along with a sage Derby and another cheese. Very tasty!

I was just talking cheese last night and how I haven't yet gotten up the balls to drop a large amount of cash to attempt a mimolette mac 'n' cheese. I really, really want to try it. It's just a bit risky. I'll have to practise a few times first to make sure I have the recipe just so.

I have always been partial to a well ripened raclette. I had never tasted it as used in a preparation until one day in Alsace, chrissxb drummed up an unbelievably delicious tartiflette. Just potatoes layered with raclette and baked for a while.